


Man Made

by hunters_retreat



Category: Dark Angel, Dark Angel/X-Men - Fandom, X-Men
Genre: Charles takes in strays apparently, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-15
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-04-20 21:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4802591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunters_retreat/pseuds/hunters_retreat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Alec and Ben will need our very special attention.  You  are right that they aren’t like us, but I’m afraid they’ll need us more  than the others.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> comment_fic!

  
  
“So, they aren’t really mutants.”

The Professor sighed as he looked out the window at the two young boys who were walking across the yard; one guarded and quiet, the other animated and excited.

“No, I’m afraid they are something far different from a biological mutation.”

“What are they?”

Charles Xavier looked at Jean Grey and shook his head, returning his gaze.  Two boys with bar codes across the back of the necks.  They would be hard; what with one being unstable from years of emotional neglect and borderline physical abuse and the other who seemed to think of himself only as a number.

“ Alec and Ben will need our very special attention.  You are right that they aren’t like us, but I’m afraid they’ll need us more than the others.”

“Why?”

“Because my dear Jean, they were man made.”

 


	2. Survival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I don’t know what happened to Ben or Alec, but whatever it was, Alec sheltered Ben from it just like he’s trying to protect him from us now. Whatever break you think you see in Ben, it’s just better hidden in Alec.”

 

  
No one moved. 

Jean wasn’t sure they could, not with the way the boy had the professor at his mercy, his twin locked in his head like the world was ending.

He’d moved so fast she hadn’t even seen him.

“Get out of his head,” Alec demanded.  Jean wanted to take a step back because his head was screaming ‘494! I am 494!’ even though he never once explained what the number meant when they asked him about it. 

The professor seemed calm but she knew him well enough to see the way his body was tensed.

“Kid, you better take a step back.”

“Logan,” she tried to warn him off but the man ignored her, taking a step towards Alec and the professor.

“That man right there is the only one that’s gonna give you a chance at a real life,” Logan said.

“Yeah, I can see what a great job he’s doing with it.  All I want is for Ben to wake up.  I’ll back off when he does and then we’re out of here,” Alec said. 

“And if he doesn’t wake up?” Logan pushed.

“Then neither does he.”

There was no hesitation in his words.  Alec meant what he said.  No matter that they were trying to help Ben deal with what he’d seen in his time with Manticore, no matter that they wanted to help both of them be able to integrate into real society, Alec would kill them all without a second thought if he thought it would protect Ben.

“Alec,” the professor was finally talking and Jean felt herself relax a little at the steadiness of his voice.  “Your brother has faced so many strains-”

“He’s not my brother.”

“Right, 493 isn’t like you.  He didn’t deal with the outside world well and I’m trying to help him learn from those experiences.  That means facing the things he did to survive.  I’m sure you understand how painful that could be.”

Alec’s eyes darted back to Ben’s and then up to Logan’s. 

Logan seemed to sense that it was his time to move because he did, slowly walking closer to Ben’s prone body.  “Hey kid, wake up.  Looks like playtime is over.”

Ben didn’t move but Logan looked over at Alec.  “You’re a soldier, Alec.  You know how this plays out.  You let the professor go and we can all let this go as if nothing happened.  If you hurt him, you’ll be hunted.  And hunted, you know you’ll never be able to take care of him.”

“You won’t hurt him?” Alec asked Logan.

“No, we just want to help.”

Alec seemed to be having trouble deciding but then Logan stepped up again.  “You got my word as a soldier, kid.  No one is going to try to hurt him.  The kid’s been hurt enough in this lifetime.”

Alec straightened up then, hands dragging away from the professors before he walked calmly to Ben.  He picked the other man up like he weighted nothing.  Ben didn’t respond to the manhandling and Jean wasn’t sure he could after the intense therapy session he’d just been through.  She’d felt the professor put the boy to sleep as soon as there was a disturbance in the room but she wouldn’t have thought it would have lasted through all that. 

“I’ll take him to his room,” Alec said, addressing Logan alone.

Logan nodded, walking him to the door of the professor’s office before he closed it.

“Should we trust him to be walking the halls?” Jean asked, sitting heavily on the couch. 

“He’s not here to hurt anyone,” Professor Xavier said as he stared at the door. 

“You really think,” Jean paused because she wasn’t sure what she wanted to say.  “Logan, you really think Ben was that badly abused?”

Logan let out a huff.  “Ben is screwed ten ways to Sunday but I wasn’t talking about him, Jean.”

“What?”

“I don’t know what happened to Ben or Alec, but whatever it was, Alec sheltered Ben from it just like he’s trying to protect him from us now.  Whatever break you think you see in Ben, it’s just better hidden in Alec.”

“You were right, Professor.  Our man made students are proving to be far more challenging than the rest of the students.”

Logan was still staring at the door.  “The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.”

“Logan?” Jean asked.

“I’ll go check on them,” Logan said without looking back at her.

He left quickly and Jean felt even more lost.

Professor Xavier looked at her and smiled kindly.  “It will take time, but they’ll learn Jean.  Alec is already beginning to trust Logan.  In time, he’ll learn that we are all here to help.”

“Will we all survive that long?”

The professor sighed.  “I just hope he does, Jean.”

**Author's Note:**

> Podfic by reena_jenkins [Here](http://podfic.jinjurly.com/audfiles/3201105103.zip)


End file.
